1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locker system, a locker controlling method, a control center, and a recording medium, for remotely controlling lockers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A coin-operated locker has been known as a public-use locker which keeps baggage for a while. Such the conventional coin-operated locker employs a manually operated lock system which is operated by a user after coin insertion.
The user must bring some coins when using the locker, and the business managing the lockers has a troublesome task to collect the coins from every locker. The conventional coin-operated locker has such the inconvenient matters both for users and business, because it is coin-operated.
Moreover, users have no ways to know which locker is available beforehand. Therefore, they sometimes must walk around to looking for available locker if the nearest lockers are fully used.
Because of the manually operated lock system, the user must bring the key with him/her while leaving the baggage in the locker. The user must pay attention to handling the key to avoid compensation for missing. Furthermore, since one key is paired with one locker compartment, it is not compatible with sharing the compartment among some users.
Since the coin-operated lockers are in public use, they may be useful as advertisement media. For example, dropping handbills into vacant lockers may be one method of advertisement using the lockers. However, since users of the lockers are unknown, this method is not suitable for personalized advertisement.
The coin-operated locker may be applicable to a delivery support system. For example, a recipient informs a deliverer of his/her desired locker, and the deliverer drops the goods in the locker and locks it. The recipient goes to the locker to retrieve the goods whenever he/she likes. It is useful for cases where the recipient goes out, wishes to receive the goods at his/her desired place such as a place near office, and the like. However, the key must be passed to the recipient from the deliverer, therefore, it is still troublesome.
To overcome such the problem, Examined Japanese Patent Application KOKOKU Publication No. H7-11806 discloses a system wherein a center controls lockers. In this system, ID cards are issued to users, and the center allows the user to retrieve the goods from the locker by unlocking the door only when authentication of the ID card and password is successful. Since the system requires registration of user information and issuance of the ID card, it brings troublesome tasks to the user data management section, etc. Moreover, the locker requires mechanical structures such as a card reader and input keys. Therefore, establishment of the system costs much.
Moreover, the system is inappropriate for public use, because the locker is unavailable for unregistered persons who do not have the ID card.